AuthorTopic: Placement suggestion for U47 (Read 2997 times)

I tired the same question in another forum on this message board but didn't get any response. I think I'm in the right place.

Klaus, I have just taken delivery of a very mice Telefunken U47, it has the letters AE on the case serial tag. Serial#300. It was sent to me freshly built this week from Telefunken. I'm certain it has the VF-14k. I love it. Sounds terrific.

I'm using it with electric guitar . It sounds great. Where do you suggest placing the mic for Electric guitar? 4X12 cab specifically. At present, I have placed the mic out front of the cab it 24" from the speaker ,centered to the of the cone. The cab actually has two different speakers use in it. Would be great to catch them both if positioned as such.

Was wondering if you might think it could be elevated and angled? Help lower the SPL. I did check my SPL and it never went over 126 dbs. SPL was a lot higher close to the grill so I have kept the mic further back. The output form the mic is already Hot for the mic preamps (Vintech) I have.

It sounds better then anything I own that is a fact. Acoustic guitar is brilliant!

Again, as I responded in your thread about Telefunken/USA's "VF14k", I have no experience with this tube or whether it (and its associated circuitry) handles SPLs of this magnitude better or worse or differently than an original Neumann U47 with an original Telefunken VF14.

(By the way, I HATE the fact that more and more companies which issue copies of famous mics have taken free range in shamelessly naming their products after highly respected microphones of the past. Neumann and the Telefunken holding company were negligent not to protect their former trademarks better. This practice of issuing look-alikes with similar names dilutes product brands, and misleads consumers. Can you imagine Dom Perignon, Armani or Porsche tolerating such practices?)

Anyway, if this were an original U47, I would take advantage of the mic's propensity to compress under high SPLs. That compression sounds best, to my ears, at a distance not less than three feet from the sound source. Not many tubes I have heard do that type of musical compression beautifully, so youwoudl need to listen for any onset of harshness, or frequency imbalance towards crunchy mids, and back off from there.

(By the way, I HATE the fact that more and more companies which issue copies of famous mics have taken free range in shamelessly naming their products after highly respected microphones of the past. Neumann and the Telefunken holding company were negligent not to protect their former trademarks better. This practice of issuing look-alikes with similar names dilutes product brands, and misleads consumers. Can you imagine Dom Perignon, Armani or Porsche tolerating such practices?)

Agreed. It's also bad when companies like Fender "re-issue" equipment that is fundamentally unlike the sought-after equipment from the past, and then include the year of the original equipment in the name. This becomes most problematic in classified ads when someone advertises they have a "Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb" for sale, or a "Fender '62 Stratocaster."

Equally inconvenient in the case of these "U47" or "C12" that are not like the originals at all. Makes it problematic to look at a studio's gear list, as well. If they advertise a "Telefunken U47," then what does that mean, exactly?